A STILL LIFE STUDY OF FABRICS
Photography by Joanna McClure
S. Harris Creative Director Jodi Finer and still life photographer Joanna McClure first met in 2020 when the world was forever changed. In a time where the notion of home took on new meaning and there was a universal call to pause and look inward, Jodi and Joanna took to Instagram for S. Harris’s live series Two/Tone, a dialogue between creatives that explored the intersection of art and design. Shortly thereafter, Jodi and the S. Harris team began plotting a new collection called Design En Rogue—an unorthodox approach to textiles that shifts our perspective and opens the aperture onto unconventional, out-of-industry collaborations. This collection would celebrate the art of collaboration across all disciplines of creativity and culture, inspired by free spirits, free thinkers, and nonconformists.
Joanna and her fresh, modern take on lifestyle subjects became the clear collaborator for the first Design En Rogue release. She set out to curate a selection from the line that tells a style-driven color story, choosing colors and materials that could live together in the same space. “There’s a certain light-heartedness to the collection,” Joanna says. “It was important that my curation was the right combination of materials and colors. I wanted to be sure that an entire room could be created out of these nine textiles.”
Joanna and Jodi wanted to introduce this collection in a way that was as unconventional as the collection itself. Naturally, a still life photoshoot ensued. Immediately drawn to Henri Matisse as her point of inspiration, Joanna thoughtfully assembled a modern compendium of fabrics shown through playful, small-scale still lifes. Below, Joanna gives us a behind-the-scenes peek into the photo shoot, her inspiration, and her eyes-wide-open creative process.
My process usually starts with visual research—lots of looking at things. Everything from fine art to magazines to things I see on the street—just normal life stuff. When I have a project in mind, everything goes through that filter, so things start to stick out. With these images, I looked a lot at sculpture and painting to get a sense of how to make the fabrics work with the shapes I chose to create. The lighting is a bit Flemish-painting inspired, if you squint hard enough.
Honestly, these images that were created for Design En Rogue were not that big of a departure from my usual practice in my personal and commercial work. The fabrics in this case were the subject, instead of a piece of jewelry or a beauty product that I’d usually have in a commercial image.
The thing I absolutely love about this collection is the broad range of textures captured in just a few different fabrics. The feel of all of them is quite luxe and weighty, which gives them an elegant, high-end feel, while the pattern and color bring a playful aspect that is uplifting. Sort of a high-low combo that I seek in pretty much everything.
The bouclé, hands down, is my favorite. It’s rich and has an amazing texture, without being too precious. It feels like it will hold up in any high-traffic scenario while still looking like a million bucks. Plus the color is really unique—creamy but with a hint of grey that is a really useful neutral.
Jodi has a really unique perspective on where she wants her business to go and to be led. Her approach to working with artists both in the Two/Tone Insta chats as well as the launch of Design En Rogue is really to allow the artist to shine and do their thing. She emboldens people like me to cross pollinate into the world of interiors while staying true to their vision. That kind of freedom doesn’t happen every day and I am really grateful to be a part of it.
GO ROGUE AND
